


A School Trip

by TeamGwenee



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Humour, Modern, Post canon, history lesson, some violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-06-27 07:51:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamGwenee/pseuds/TeamGwenee
Summary: Hundred of years have passed, and people are still shipping it.





	A School Trip

“Onto our last and my personal favourite room of the tour, the tombs. We are now actually inside the cave, so make sure your hard hats and harnesses are on properly.

The lords and ladies of Tarth have always had a close affinity with the sea and the night sky. And so the third Evenstar, Lord Edwyn, decreed that all of his bloodline must be buried in close proximity to both. If you will all just follow me down the gangway between the tombs. Don't touch anything.

 _Thank_ you, but we don''t need any ghost noises Mr Comedian!

There. Before you is one of Tarth's, and indeed Westeros's most famous natural landmarks. Lord Edwyn ordered for his family tombs to be placed overlooking this stunning underground waterfall, so that the sight and sound of the running water may always be near. Far away enough not to be damaged, but always within eyesight. And if you would look up, you can see the sky through the cliff opening. As I'm sure you can imagine, when the moon is overhead and all the stars are shining down, the marble of the tombs look astounding.

Lord Edwyn insisted that this proximity to the stars and sea would ensure that the spirits of his family would keep from rising up. It is also for those reasons that the effigies on top of the tombs are holding the possessions which the deceased held most precious. Here for example, we have the ninth Evenstar, Lord Durran holding a tankard which by tradition is refilled every night. He died in his forty second year riding along the cliff face when drunk. Don't drink and drive kids. You would think the incident would have taught his ghost to sober up, but this ritual is considered necessary in order to keep his spirit at peace.

Of course, not all ghosts are so easily satiated. Lady Rowena, wife of the seventh Evenstar, lies here. Her tomb is probably the most ornate. Even now, we can see the splendour of her clothes as she lies there, infant daughter in her arms. Her tomb is carved with roses and lilies and initially held the precious stones taken from her jewellery, until they were stolen at the turn of the twentieth century.

The pomp and grandeur of Lady Rowena's tomb was not born out of the Evenstar's great love for his wife, but out of guilt. For many years the pair struggled for a child and when at last a healthy daughter was born, their joy was so great that it overshadowed any disappointment at it not being a boy. The Evenstar held great balls and tournaments to celebrate the birth, but alas shortly afterwards while the Evenstar was attending his lord in Storm's End, the babe caught a fever and died.

The Evenstar was welcomed home with the news of his daughter's death, and immediately made for the chambers where he discovered his wife cradling their dead child. She had been sat there for seven days, unable to move. In a fit of anger, blaming his wife for their child's death, he grabbed her by her hair and garrotted her with the chain of her necklace. Horrified, he then told everyone she had killed herself and buried her with much pomp and ceremony. Instead of marrying again, he became fixated on building his wife the most beautiful tomb in the Seven Kingdoms, in hope of appeasing his guilt. All was for nought and the truth came out when; after years of growing more and more erratic, he screamed out his crimes before his entire court. Contemporary accounts stated that it appeared as though he were addressing the lady herself. Terrified, he fled from the Great Hall as though he was being chased, down to the tombs where he slipped and fell into the waters.

His body remains there to this day and is joined by the thieves who tried to steal the jewels from Lady Rowena's tomb. Legend has it that Lady Rowena waits here still, lurking in the shadows and seeking guilty souls to lure into the depths below, to rot alongside her husband.

Maybe everyone just step back from the edge a bit, there we go.

And now we reach-ah, I can see from your faces that you all know this one. Hands up, who has seen the animated movie? All of you? It's one of my absolute favourites. Interesting decision, to make Podrick Payne into a talking bunny rabbit, but not without reason if you read the contemporary accounts of him. And of course it did make the film more child friendly, which was necessary considering they kept in the incest.

The most famous Evenstar and considered Tarth's heroine and icon, Lady Brienne of Tarth was a key figure during the War of Long Night and in the rebuilding of Westeros afterwards. She and her lover, Ser Jaime Lannister, fought side by side during many a battle, wielding their twin Valyrian Steal swords. Having first met during the War of the Five Kings, these unlikely allies forged a close bond that was said to have played a major part in Ser Jaime's decision to defect from his sister's rule and join the battle against the dead.

He arrived at Winterfell alone, surrounded by enemies and bearing the news of his sister's betrayal. Face to face with the remaining siblings of the boy he had previously crippled in order to protect his family, many thought he was doomed to be beheaded there and then, and it is only Lady Brienne's testimony that saved him from summary execution. Which you will all know of course, having seen the film.

No, you do _not_ need to sing 'You Are The Honour in Me'. Even _I_ have a limit on how many times I can listen to that song without killing someone.

During their time together in Winterfell, many first hand accounts wrote of the increasingly obvious attraction between the two. Reactions to the couple's attachment ranged from bemusement to anger. There are several reports of Ser Jaime even getting into a violent fight with an amorous Wildling, whose name has since been forgotten.

An experienced battle commander, Ser Jaime overcame much hatred from the Northern and Targeryen armies and his battle tactics played a vital role in the defeat of the White Walkers. Lady Brienne herself became renowned for her valour on the battlefield, her most famous feat of course being the single-handed defeat of the dragon Wight, Viserion.

I'm sorry, but you are going to have to finish the song now. It's stuck in my head and driving me bonkers.

….... Thank you.

Both Lady Brienne and Ser Jaime were present during the Razing of King's Landing, helping the peasantry to evacuate the city as Queen Cersei and Queen Daenerys held their final battle, during which both Queens died and King Jon was literally caught in the crossfire. The previous contenders for the throne all reduced to ashes, Lady Sansa Stark immediately seized control of the North, but the situation in the South was more troublesome.

King Tyrion gained the throne almost by accident. Putting aside all thoughts of the crown he focussed on rebuilding and seeking aide for those whose homes had been destroyed. When the question of who should rule the South arose, the smallfolk would only accept one man. Tyrion Lannister; once known as the Imp and even as the Demon Monkey, was crowned king a year after the Razing of King's Landing.

Although hard fought for, Westeros entered into a period of prosperity which saw the reforms that make up a major part of our Government today. Lady Brienne and Ser Jaime settled into a life of relative peace, ruling Tarth and fighting pirates.

After their deaths; having somewhat miraculously lived to old age, the pair were buried in a joint tomb. In their effigies' hands are the legendary twin Valyrian steal swords; Oathkeeper and Window's Wail.

The history of these swords are almost as legendary as of their owners themselves. Forged from the Stark Great-sword Ice, the Stark family has throughout the years repeatedly pressed their claim to the swords, seeking to return it to Winterfell. The first recorded account occurred some years after Lady Brienne's death, when Queen Sansa and Lady Arya insisted on having the swords returned to them, against the advice of their last surviving brother. It is said that during the days that followed, not a person in Winterfell slept easily as screams and horrific visions of bloodied corpses tormented their nights.

Peace only returned when the swords were taken back to Tarth.

A century later a second attempt was made, the current owner not even putting up a fight and instead allowing the Starks to do as they pleased. This time the swords did not even make it to Winterfell. Those trying to transport it North were met with a string of bad luck, including illness and injuries. They turned back to Tarth tails between their legs, not even having made it out of the Stormlands.

Since then the blades have been removed from their resting place, either during battle when they were wielded by Tarth descendants, and more recently taken on tours around the kingdom. These were all met without incident. Whereas some claim that this proves the legend of the swords to be false, others argue that all who borrowed the sword did so with the intention of returning them and swore a vow to do so.

Of course, not everyone believed these claims and perhaps emboldened by the lack of trouble, the current Lord Stark recently sought to reclaim the twin swords. You may recall having seen this in the news, all of this naturally gaining a great deal of coverage. Following the example of her ancestors, our current Evenstar allowed Lord Stark to do as he pleased. With much pomp and ceremony, Lord Stark took the swords and gave his now infamous speech of how they are his by right and they have been sullied by Lannister ownership for too long to the press.

Two days later he returned to Evenfall Hall, somewhat embarrassed and apologetic, and sheepishly gave the swords back.

Naturally, as a result the swords have gained a great deal of speculation and many have kept an eagle eye out for any paranormal activity. There has been only one major incident since. This time no one was seeking to steal the sword, but whilst touring the tombs alone a young man tried to assault his girlfriend. On security footage the swords can clearly be seen flying from their place on the tombs and knocking the assailant to the ground, uninjured but shaken.

It seems that even in death, Lady Brienne and Ser Jaime are up-keeping their knightly vows of honour and justice.

And now, if you would like to follow me to the gift shop, we have a wide range of fantastic souvenirs to take home with you! We have DVDs and soundtracks of the film, fascinating books on the history of both Tarth and the Battle of the Long Night, as well as some exquisite Oathkeeper and Widow's Wail replicas, which I am assured are quite safe to take home.

But as for myself, I rather fancy a cuddly bunny Podrick to snuggle up with tonight.”

 


End file.
